During an online seminar discussion “Role of cohesion policy in the Planning of Metropolitan areas - Brussels case study”, 30 participants were invited to discuss the results of the international E

The high-level online conference “From ESPON 2020 to ESPON 2030 – Building on 20 years of innovative support for territorial policy-making” on 29 March 2022 gathered more than 400 participants to discuss achievements of the present and perspectives of the future of ESPON programme. Read a short summary of the event and find the presentations of the speakers in this article. 

notika seminārs – diskusija “Rīgas metropoles nākotnes attīstības izaicinājumi”, kurā vairāk nekā 400 dalībnieki tika iepazīstināti ar starptautiska ESPON pētījuma “METRO Kohēzijas politikas loma un nākotnes perspektīvas metropoles areālu un pilsētu plānošanā” rezultātiem par Eiropas Savienības Kohēzijas politikas ietekmi uz Rīgas metropoles areāla izaugsmi, plānošanu un konkurētspēju. 

While diverse administrative, economic and political events throughout history have had an influence on the movement of people around the world, none of them had a bigger impact on the number of people crossing the European Union’s (EU) eastern border than the current COVID-19 pandemic. But how has this actually fared on tourism, the labour market and student flows?

The ESPON Geography of COVID-19 project (Territorial impacts of COVID-19 and policy answers in European regions and cities) is conductin

Discontent, Division, Disparities, Divides. Those are the four "Ds" characterising the spatial megatrends in Europe today, according to the ESPON findings, as presented by the director of ESPON, Mr Wiktor Szydarowski, at the European Summit of regions and cities, in Marseille.

Large lake regions are confronted with a challenging situation: while the lake and surrounding areas would benefit from integrated management, they are often shared between regions or countries. Stakeholders from large lake regions have therefore developed a great variety of governance arrangements and initiatives to overcome challenges arising from fragmentation.

Disconnected from the mainland, urban-maritime regions that are island face different challenges than regions situated on the mainland. This also goes for Malta and Crete, two of the stakeholder regions that were part of the ERMES project. This article discusses the downsides and benefits of insular regions in relation to eco-cluster development.

Research conducted for ESPON has identified four global trends that will significantly change the way European seaports operate in 10 years from now. These trends will not only influence the seaports themselves but will also provide opportunities and challenges for the urban-maritime region where they are located.

Following their initial agreement on the content of the ESPON 2030 programme as a prerequisite for the submission of the programme to the European Commission for